1. April 2008 by Carol.

One thing I had learned prior to the surgery is that one of the drugs I’d be taking for life could likely cause my hair to slowly fall out.  Now I’ve never had thick, stunning golden locks anyhow so I was a bit apprehensive about losing even more of what little I have but the alternative drug to it had even worse side effects.  This morning as I get ready to jump in the shower and start my day I am noticing the size of the wad of hair that is in the hair catcher.  And I’ve noticed a little more “glow” off the top of my head lately and I notice that when I wear dark colors there are more curly blonde/gray threads hanging on to my clothes.  I can tell when I put my hair in a pony tail that it takes one more wrap around to have it tight enough.

These are things I knew I’d have to wrestle with when I made the decision to go ahead with the drug.  Do I regret the decision?  Absolutely not.  Am I struggling with the reality of it now?  Certainly.  I’ve always thought my hair was my one good asset and now it’s down the drain (pun intended).  I don’t think I’ll ever be bald but it’ll be interesting to see how much I ultimately lose. 

So now I’m trying to decide what I’m going to do about this in my head (as opposed to on my head…) and heart.  I know there will be ongoing wrestling and perhaps even some grieving somewhere down the road.  But I’m hoping I can also make something good out of this as well to help myself live with it and to hopefully encourage others in the same predicament.

It’s an interesting life but I’m grateful to have it right now and I’m glad to have to wrestle with these things.  Last year I thought I was ready for the alternative but I don’t think I quite am yet.  So by the Lord’s grace I will keep experiencing all these new experiences with my new kidney.

Thanks for reading!

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1. April 2008 by Carol.

I’ve been meaning to write this for awhile now and am finally getting around to it.  Another person on the Loyola team that I am just getting to know more is the post-transplant nephrologist and the director of renal transplantation at Loyola, Dr. Susan Hou.  She was kind enough to attend my kidney’s birthday party a few weeks ago and during that afternoon she mentioned that she was a kidney donor herself. 

Wow!  I already admired her from my previous connections with her but now my admiration jumped up even more.  So I did a little “googling” tonight using her name and came across this article from another transplant recipient who wrote about Dr. Hou and her work.  She is an amazing woman who walks her talk in ways I only wish I could.  Read this article and be amazed…  http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/275737/a_tale_of_two_transplants_the_story.html.

My life is so greatly blessed with phenomenal friends and family and the most wonderful medical caregivers ever.  My regular doctors here in the western suburbs, Dr. Beth Larson and Dr. Greg Kozeny have poured so much into my life and now this amazing team from Loyola that I have been blessed to have in my life as well.

Thanks for reading…and may we all walk our talk!

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